Cabinet



March ze, 1957 A. T. Toamsz CABINET 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. :50,1956 March 26, 1957 A. T. 'roBlAsz 2,786,240

CABINET Filed Jan. 50, 1956 2 Sheets$heet 2 lill."

y JWIN v United States Patent CABINET Albin T. Tobiasz, Norwood Park,Ill`.,fassignor to Leitner Equipment Company, a corporation of illinoisIApplicationlanuary 30, 1956, SerialNo. 562,282.

6 Claims. (Cl. 20-19) This invention relates to a cabinet providedv witha self-closing sliding door,r and is particularly concerned withcabinets used in restaurants for keeping, f Qod for service tocustomers. l

Waitresses often forget to close the door after removingy food from afood service. cabinet,` and sometimes leave the door open because 4thenumber of dishes removed from the cabinet may require the use, of bothhands. Failure to close the door of such cabinets is particularlydisadvantageous in the case of refrigerated cabinets because of theresultant loss of refrigeration.

In accordance with the present invention a cabinet is provided with`means for cit sing either sliding door automatically and' for normallyholding both doors closed. When the cabinet is being filled it isundesirable to have the door constantly closing. Accordingly, means areprovided for holding either door open. when it is moved to fully openposition. Waltressesl do not, ordinarily open either door to fully openposition in order to remove f ood from the cabinet, and therefore themeans` for holding the door open does not interfere with the automaticclosing of the` door in the normal use ofthe cabinet.

In refrigerated cabinets heretofore known the, clearance between thedoors and the frame required for the sliding engagement of the doorswith the track of the frame results in some loss of refrigeration.v Incabinets Constructed in accordance with the present invention thesealing engagement of the doors with the frame is improved in the closedposition. of the doors, and the loss of refrigeration is substantiallyeliminated.

The structure by which the above and other advantages of the inventionare attained will be described in the following speciication, taken inconjunctionwith the accom,- panying drawings showing a preferredillustrative embodiment of the invention, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a cabinet embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional View, taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view,r taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view, with the top channellifted from its normal position to facilitate illustration of the. doorstructure;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front elevational View of the cabinet;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view, taken along the line 6 6 of Fig. 5;and

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view, taken along the line 7 7 of Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 2 indicates a cabinethaving end walls 3 and 4, a bottom wall 5, and a top wall 6. A verticalchannel 7 is mounted adjacent the front edge of end wall 3, and asimilar channel 8 is mounted adjacent the front edge of end wall 4.Channels 7 and 8 are of equal size and the side walls of each channelextend towards the opposite channel. A track 9, mounted on the bottomwall 5 of the cabinet, extends across the front ofthe cabinet betweenthe lower ends of channels7 and 8. The ends of track 9 t snugly betweenthe side walls of channels 7 and 8. Track 9 is preferably reinforcedthroughout its length by an inverted channel 9. The top of track 9 isdivided into two parallel guide channels 10 and 11 each of which has aV-shaped cross section. The bottom of each guide channel has threelongitudinal depressions 12, 13. and 14. Depression 12 is spaced apredetermined distance from end wall 3. Depressions 13 and 14 are spacedfrom depression 12 a distance slightly less than half the length of thetrack. The reasons for the V-shaped cross section of the guide channelsand the depressions in the guide channels will be discussed later.

An upper track 15 isl mounted'l on the underside of top wall 6 adjacentits front edge. Track 15 is provided with three downwardly extendingwalls 16,'17 and l8 .which form` parallel guide channels 19 and 20alignedV vertically with guide channels 10 and 11. The width of track 1Sis the same as that of channels 7 and 8, and the lower edges of sidewalls 16 and 18 abut the upper edges of the sides of channels 7 and 8with which they are aligned.

A door 21 is slidably mounted between guide channels 10 and 19, and adoor 22 is slidably mounted between guide channels 11 and 20. Sincethese d oors are alike and both are mounted in the same manner, only onedoor will be specically described, it being undezstood that thedescription applies to both doors.

Each Idoor comprises a glass panel 23 mounted in a metal framecomprising a bottom channel 24, a top channel 25, and an end channel 26.Another `end channel may be provided at the opposite end of the glasspanel, it' desired. Channel 24 is provided with a horizontal web 27,against which the lower edge of glass panel 23 is seated, and with apair of depending walls 28 and 29 which form a lower channel having anopen bottom. Two studs 39 extend transversely of the lower channel andare secured in depen-ding walls 23 and 29. A roller 31 is rotatablymounted on one stud 3) and a similar roller 31 is mounted on the otherstud. The rollers have a diameter large enough so that the periphery ofthe roller extends below the lower edges of side walls 2S and 29. Thestuds are so positioned that when the door is in closed position, thatis with the end of channel 26 abutting the inner surface of channel 7,roller 31 is in registration with depression 12V and roller 31 is inregistration with depression 14.

The depressions are comparatively shallow so that the door may be movedeasily. A transverse pull on the door causes both rollers to move out ofthe depressions and roll along the bottom of channel lil. The depressions are deep enough to hol-d the door in closed posi-tion againstaccidental movement of the door. ln addition to holding the door closedagainst accidental displacement, the depressions improve the sealbetween the door and the cabinet when the door is in closed position.When rollers 31 and 31 are in rolling contact with the upper surface ofchannel 10 a slight clearance i5A required between the lower edges ofdepending walls 23, 29 and the upper surface of the channel to permitthe door to slide easily. Channel 24 is slight-ly narrower than `channellil, and walls 2S and 29 are aligned vertically with the slopingsurfaces of channel it). When rollers 31 and 31 drop into depressions 12and 14, the angular configuration of the top of channel l@ causes thelower ends of side walls 2i? and 29 to engage the surface of channel 10upon very slight downward mov-ement of the door, thereby forming anecient seal for retention of refrigerated air in the cabinet.

A loop 32 is secured to the upper edge portion of channel '7, and oneend 33 of a tension spring 34 is hooked into the loop. Any suitable formof attaching device may be 3 used instead of loop 32. lf desired, a hookmay be used, and the end 33 of the spring may be curled into an eyemember to engage the hook to hold the end of the spring in place. Theupper surface of channel Z is embossed to provide a plurality of spacedhook engaging members 35. The opposite end 36 of spring 34 is curled toform a hook adapted to engage any of the embossments 35, depending uponthe amount of tension desired for the spring. The embossments 3S faceaway from channel 7 so that hook end 36 of the spring engages a sharpedge that prevents it from slipping out of engagement. Each door isprovided with a handle 37, of any suitable shape, lto facilitatemanipulation of the door. As shown, handle 37 is integral with channel26, but it may be formed separately and secured to the door in anysuitable manner. A slight force against handle 37 is sufcient to movethe door into open position against the holding engagement of rollers 31and 31' with depressions 12 and t4. Normally the door is opened farenough to provide access to the cabinet, and when the required dish ordishes are removed the force is released. Upon release of the forceholding the door open spring 34 retracts the door into its closedposition. The action of the spring prevents the user fromunintentionally leaving the door open, and keeps the door closed as muchas possible consistent with the normal use of the cabinet. Accordingly,loss of refrigeration due to the opening of the door is kept at aminimum, thus in creasing the eiciency of the cabinet and reducing itsmaintenance cost.

Whenever it is necessary to keep the door open, as when the cabinet isbeing filled, the door is opened to its fully opened position, androller 31 drops into depression i3. The holding engagement of roller 31with depression 13 is sufficient to hold the door in fully openedposition until the door is manually moved ltowards closed position. Assoon as roller Slis forced out of depression r3 spring 34 pulls the doorto its closed position. Although a cushioning member may be providedwithin channel 7, it is preferred to have the tension of spring 34 lightenough so that the door will not slam when the spring pulls it shut.

While l have described a preferred embodiment of my invention inconsiderable detail, it will 'ue understood that the description thereofis illustrative, rather than restrictive, as many details may be modiedor changed without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.Accordingly, l do not desire to be restricted to the exact structuredescribed.

I claim:

l.. In a cabinet, a guide channel, a door having a pair of rollersrotatably mounted thereon, said rollers being in rolling contact withsaid channel, spring means urging said door to its closed position, andmeans engaging one of said rollers in one predetermined position of saiddoor to hold said door against the action of said spring means.

2. In a cabinet, a guide channel, a door having a pair of rollersrotatably mounted thereon, said rollers being in rolling contact withsaid channel, spring means urging said door to its closed position, anda depression in said channel, one of said rollers tting in saiddepression when said door is opened to a predetermined position to holdsaid door in said predetermined position against the action of saidspring means.

3. In a cabinet, a guide channel, a door having a pair of rollersrotatably mounted thereon, said rollers being in rolling contact withsaid channel, spring means urging said door to its closed position, apair of depressions in said channel engageable by said rollers when said`door is closed to hold it against accidental opening, and anotherdepression engageable by one of said rollers when said door is open tohold said door open against the action of said spring means.

4. In a cabinet, a guide channel having a top surface of angular shapein cross section, a door having a bottom edge aligned with said channel,a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on said door adjacent its bottomedge, the periphery of each roller extending below the bottom edge ofsaid door, said rollers being in rolling contact with the angular topsurface of said channel and the bottom edge of said door being spacedabove said angular top surface to provide clearance for sliding movementof said door, and a pair of depressions in said channel, said rollerstitting in said depressions when said door is in closed position, thebottom edge of said door being in contact with said angular top surfaceof said channel when said rollers are positioned in said depressions.

5. In a cabinet, a guide channel having a top surface of angular shapein cross section, a door having a bottom edge aligned with said channel,a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on said door adjacent its bottomedge, the periphery of each roller extending below the bottom edge ofsaid door, said rollers being in rolling contact with the angular topsurface of said channel and the bottom edge of said door being spacedabove said angular top surface to provide clearance for sliding movementof said door, a pair of depressions in said channel, said rollersfitting in said depressions when said door is in closed position, thebottom edge of said door being in contact with said angular top surfaceof said channel when said rollers are positioned in said depressions,and spring means urging said door to its closed position when saidrollers are spaced from said depressions.

6. ln a cabinet, a guide channel having a top surface of angular shapein cross section, a door having a bottom edge aligned with said channel,a pair of rollers rotatably mounted on said door adjacent its bottomedge, the periphery of each roller extending below the bottom edge ofsaid door, said rollers being in rolling contact with the angular topsurface of said channel and the bottom edge of said door being spacedabove said angular top surface to provide clearance for sliding movementof said door, a pair of depressions in said channel, said rollers ttngin said depressions when said door is in closed position, the bottomedge of said door being in contact with said angular top surface of saidchannel when said rollers are positioned in said depressions, springmeans urging said door to its closed position, and another depression insaid channel, one of said rollers fitting in said last mentioneddepression when said door is in predetermined open position, said lastmentioned depression holding said one roller to prevent movement of saiddoor from said predetermined open position to closed position underinfluence of said spring.

No references cited.

